by Alex Apostol
“Look, Cara, I told you I just have a feeling so please lose the attitude,” I barked back at her, my irritation rising up from nowhere.
“Who do you think you are? Don?” she mocked as I rolled my eyes, not the slightest bit amused.
“Maybe being around all this for so long makes some people more susceptible than others,” I reasoned, in no mood to debate why I felt the way I did.
“Alright, alright, calm down,” she giggled as she continued to read me the information she had found. “It’s a fairly new term, but the myth has been around for ages.”
My face scrunched up in distaste as I thought about what Cara said it could be.
“A ‘Psychic Vampire’?” I asked after I took a large gulp of my beer. “That just sounds so stupid. Can we call it something else?”
Without any argument, Cara seamlessly switched to calling them drainers and told me their story.
“Apparently, they are people who are quite talented in black magic,” she began as she skimmed through the article she had found on similar accounts. “They suck the energy from people around them, but there are more dangerous ones who are not satisfied on energy alone.”
I could hear the interest rising slightly in her voice as she read on. She told me of the more experienced drainers who stole the life-forces from unsuspecting victims while they slept. In doing so, the drainers remained young and beautiful as long as they continued sucking out people’s souls and devouring them. But it wasn’t easy to catch a person in the act. They used out of body experiences to get into a person’s home, rendering them virtually untouchable. The person is basically a ghost, able to move around undetected. This raised an important question…How do you stop a drainer? I couldn’t just kill a living human being, no matter how wrong it was what they were doing. No cop in town would believe me if I told them the truth. I’d be thrown in jail, or the nuthouse.
As I brought all my valid points to Cara’s attention, she sat in deep thought. Whenever we came across something I had never hunted before, Cara would find information on the creature and somewhere there would be a myth on how to stop it. I could hear pages flipping as she tried to find an answer in her research. While I waited for her input, Alli came back to the bar to deliver my sandwich. She smiled at me and walked back into the kitchen just in time to avoid Sari strolling in. My eyes were drawn to him as he sat down next to me and smiled, waiting for me to hang up. For a moment I got distracted by his deep eyes and considered shoving the phone back into my pocket.
“Finding out who it is should be easy. It would be the only person with any kind of energy,” Cara said, pulling me out of my trance. “As far as stopping them, the only thing I can think of is to go into a deep meditative state and have your own out of body experience.”
I couldn’t help but to laugh aloud at her suggestion. I had never tried doing any sort of magic or paranormal mumbo jumbo. Why didn’t I just go down to the local psychic and get my palms read while I was at it? My job was to hunt down the usual, not become it. As she described the process to me in great detail, though, I decided there was no harm in trying. I didn’t want another person to fall victim tonight and whoever was doing this seemed to be attacking on a nightly basis now. I told Cara I would follow her advice and hung up.
“What was that about?” Sari asked with a coy smile plastered on his face.
“Just a business call,” I responded routinely.
He looked deep into my eyes, unconvinced, as if it were obvious I had just told a lie. And here I thought I was good at it.
“You never really told me what it is you do.”
I smiled back, caught off guard by his inquisition. I stammered as I reminded him that I was on a road trip and I didn’t like to talk about work while I was on vacation. He gave a low, melodic laugh, showing off his perfectly straight, white teeth.
“Well I can’t argue with you there,” he chuckled.
I ate my sandwich as Sari and I exchanged small talk. The conversation seemed to flow from me without any of my awkward silences or usual faltering. Not wanting to say goodnight, Sari found excuses to keep me at the bar longer than I had planned. It was obvious to me that I shouldn’t have a shot in hell with him, but I couldn’t help enjoying the time we spent together. He made me feel at ease. I could feel my whole body relax and wind down as I listened to his deep voice. A few minutes before the bar closed for the night, I reluctantly stood from the hard wooden stool.
“Come on, don’t go. I have a feeling things were just getting interesting,” he said as he grabbed my shoulder from behind and leaned in closely.
I could feel his sweet, warm breath on the nape of my neck and it sent my heart fluttering. I closed my eyes, trying to steady myself enough to walk out the door. I knew I had no time to waste if I wanted to catch the drainer in action. I still had no idea if I could even achieve an out of body experience and I had to give myself enough time for mistakes I was sure to make.
“I really have to go. It’s getting late. But I promise to see you again tomorrow,” I lied, knowing the minute I stopped the drainer I would leave town again.
He released his gentle grip and smiled, accepting my word.
“I look forward to seeing you again real soon, then.”
I forced one foot in front of the other as I made my way out of the bar and into my truck. I started the engine as fast as I could and stepped on the gas harder than I should have. My tires spun on the gravel for a moment before peeling out of the parking lot. If I hadn’t made such a hasty exit, I might have been tempted to take Sari’s suggestion to stay longer. He got into my head every time I saw him, taking over the rational part of my brain and causing me to feel things I’d never felt before. It was better for me if I just stayed away from him. I couldn’t let anything derail me from my mission.
Once back in the dark motel room, I laid myself down on the bed and closed my eyes. I tried everything Cara had told me about concentrating and relaxing into a half sleep state. Inside my head, I calmly told myself to loosen each muscle individually, starting with my toes and working all the way up to my brain. Once I had told every part of my body to relax, my head was supposed to clear itself of all thoughts. To no surprise of mine, it was not working. Lying there for over an hour, I felt as if I was getting nowhere. My brain was still spinning, filled with thoughts of what would happen if I was unsuccessful. If I didn’t leave my body soon, I was likely to fall asleep.
Deciding to take a break and try again after I drank a glass of water, I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. I turned on the bedside lamp and froze in shock at what I saw. Lying there on the bed next to me…was me. I stood up slowly and stared down at my hands. My entire body was illuminated, as if there were a million tiny white lights under my skin. I had expected to see myself as I normally saw ghosts, dull and void of color, but I had never seen anything like this before. After I took a few deep breaths to calm myself, I decided to start the search for the drainer. I reached out my brightened hand to open the door, but hesitated for a moment with curiosity. Technically, I was a spirit, so maybe I possessed the same abilities as one.
As I headed directly for the door, I closed my eyes expecting to smack my forehead against it. An intense tingling sensation ran through my body. There was no doubt in my mind something had gone horrible wrong. I was going to find myself stuck halfway between the door or something ridiculous like that. I opened my eyes and rejoiced in the fact that I was standing, perfectly intact, outside. Not sure which direction to go, I stood for a moment in thought. There were only two people in town I knew of who fit the profile and I didn’t know where either of them lived. The bar and the café were the only placed I’d come in contact with either of my suspects, but both were closed.
As I weighed the option of each direction, I felt someone grab me by the arm forcefully. The entire town rushed beneath me as if I were being dragged through the air. I didn’t have enough time to work myself up into a good panic before I was
released from the invisible grip and left standing by Alli’s bedside. She lay silently under the covers, clearly in a deep state of sleep. Realizing the drainer must be near and getting ready to suck the life-force from Alli’s defenseless body, I walked into her closet and waited. As much as I hated to admit it, I knew who I was waiting for. The only other person that had been full of energy the entire time I’d been there was Sari. Could such a seemingly perfect guy really be messing around with black magic? He was from L.A., so anything was possible, I thought with disappointment.
Not more than a minute after I secured myself in the darkness, I saw a dim figure appear through the crack of the door. The indistinct form radiated a dark shadow around itself, preventing me from seeing who it was. I stepped through the doorway and out into the open bedroom. As I crept closer to the ominous form, I was stopped in my tracks. The person standing before me was Alli.
“I knew something was off about you…hunter,” she said with spite.
I stood there in shock, unable to think of what to say. She had seemed like such a down to Earth, friendly person.
“They told me someone like you would eventually come for me if I wasn’t careful.”
I stared deep into her black empty eyes and knew exactly who the ‘they’ were that she was talking about.
“So, what? You promise yourself to a demon and they give you the secret to staying young and beautiful?” I asked with blatant disgust in my voice.
How could someone be so vain? She was willing to sacrifice the lives of others for her own visage. There had to be a catch. Demons never did anything for free. Whatever the price was, she seemed oblivious to the fact that there would be an end to her existence. She cackled loudly at my disapproval.
“Why should I care about anyone but myself?” she asked, rhetorically. “No one ever cared about me.”
I could feel the heat of my animosity rising quickly within me. Without control, my instincts took over and I ran full speed towards her. Just when I was about to tackle, I lunged, wanting to be sure I took her down hard. Instead, I fell straight through her opaque body.
“Stupid girl,” she laughed. “You’re not in a physical form. You can’t touch me.”
Her face hardened as she stared into my fearful eyes.
“At least not until you’ve learned how,” she added as she headed towards me.
I backed away, using my hands and feet to push myself from her path. Appearing before me, she grabbed me by the throat and effortlessly lifted me up from the floor. My feet dangled a few inches from the ground as I attempted to escape from her grip. I gasped for air as I swung my arms, trying to make contact only to go straight through her.
“Use your mind to banish her,” a low, soft voice whispered in my ear. “Concentrate.”
I focused my line of vision behind Alli and saw a tall figure hovering in the corner of the bedroom. It shone so brightly, I wasn’t able to tell who or what it was. All I knew is that if I wanted to survive, I had to listen to what it said. As Alli smiled wickedly and tightened her grip around my neck, I turned my gaze to focus directly onto her eyes. She seemed completely unaware of my unknown protector glowing only a few feet behind her.
“You can’t win, hunter!” she gloated prematurely.
Her smile was malicious as I held one of my hands in front of me with the palm facing outward towards her face. As I concentrated intently, blocking out everything around me, I felt my hand start to vibrate. It felt as if a surge of electricity were shooting up my arm and out of my fingertips. Gradually, a concentrated ball of white light formed in the palm of my hand.
Alli’s spirit let out a shrill cry as she dropped me to the hardwood floor once again. I took several deep breaths before backing away. My eyes were drawn to her feet. A bright blue flame was slowly crawling up her legs, threatening to engulf her entire evil soul. I planted my hands firmly on the ground, pushing myself up to stand tall.
“Please, stop!” she begged as I returned to complete concentration.
If she had known how to do this, she would have done so to me without hesitation. My hatred towards her grew fervidly. Without warning, the blue flames rose as if someone had thrown gasoline onto them. I protected my eyes with my arm from the blinding light in front of me. A tremendous heat filled the room. Through the roar of the fire, I heard Alli’s violent shrills of pain and fear. As instantly as the fire had grown, it was out and the space where Alli’s spirit had stood was now empty.
Void of energy, my body collapsed. I breathed heavily as I lay on the floor, trying to comprehend what had just happened. I looked at the corner where the white figure had been, but there was no one there. I rolled over onto my stomach and pushed myself up onto all fours before standing slowly. I stared at the wall across from me, needing a stationary object to focus on to keep my head from spinning. Right at the moment when I began to feel normal again, the invisible hand grabbed my upper arm and yanked me back to the motel.
When I arrived in front of the bed where my physical form lay I looked around the dark, empty room. Once more, I found myself alone. Just wanting the night to be over, I laid down on the bed, overlapping my spirit with my body as I let a deep breath escape my lips. I opened my eyes instantly as if I were awakening from a bad dream.
I looked down to make sure I was really me. The glow was gone from my skin and I was starting to forget the things I’d seen. I tried to go over what had happened in my head, knowing there were gaps I could not seem to remember. The important thing was I had gotten rid of the drainer…I think. After I stood up to check if I was all in one piece, I picked up my phone from the bedside table to call Cara. I had to confide in her everything I could remember before the entire night was lost to my subconscious.
“Did you do it?” she answered after the first ring, eager to hear the details.
I told her what I could remember all in one breath. I felt if I didn’t talk fast enough the knowledge of my encounter would fade away into nothing. The one thing that stayed strong in my mind was the white figure I had seen in the corner. I wasn’t sure what to think about the one who had guided me.
“Sounds like you’ve got someone watching out for you, Kamlyn,” Cara responded with her usual faith.
I wasn’t sure if it made me feel quite as at ease as it should have, though. There was something off about it to me. Why hadn’t they revealed themselves to me? They were obviously capable of communicating with me, since it had told me how to defend myself.
“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you,” Cara apologized sincerely.
“It’s okay,” I said, not wanting to talk about the eventful night any further.
I said goodnight to Cara and turned off my phone. I sluggishly shuffled into the bathroom and turned the faucet on full blast, wanting the water to be as cold as I could get it. Lowering my face close to the sink, I splashed myself a few times before blindly reaching for the washcloth that hung on the wall. I patted my face dry and took a long look in the mirror. Why was I so tired, I wondered as I looked at my exhausted face. I took off my jeans as I made my way over to the bed, almost falling over as I hopped on one foot to free the other. Wanting a distraction from my thoughts, I dug through my bag for my MP3 player and headphones. When it came to taking my mind off my own problems, there was nothing better than focusing on the lyrical words of others. I only made it to the middle of the second song before I fell asleep.
*
My eyes fluttered open, stinging slightly from the sunlight on my face. There wasn’t much I could recall from the night before. All I knew was some mysterious form had led me to do something terrible to Alli. I knew she had been the drainer, but beyond that my mind was a blank. I decided to grab another coffee and cinnamon roll at the little café down the street before I left town to see if she was still there. It was very possible I had vividly dreamt the entire experience. I packed what little belongings I had and checked out of the motel.
I sat down at the same table I had the day before an
d waited for someone to greet me. Somewhere deep down inside me, I half expected to see Alli’s cheerful face as if nothing had happened. It was hard for me to believe there wasn’t some part of her that had been good.
“Hi, there! What can I get you?” a chipper voice asked as I stared out the window.
I looked up to see a red-headed woman in her mid forties with an apron on, pen poised to take my order.
“Can you tell me if Alli is working today?” I asked casually, smiling at her overly made up face.
“Alli didn’t make it in this morning. She was taken to the hospital,” she responded.
Her face went from sunny to concern. She stared down at me and waited for the explanation to my inquiry.
“Do you know what happened?” I asked while trying to fake a surprised look. “I’m her old roommate and I came here to visit with her.”
I lied so much these days I didn’t even have to take time to think of them anymore. The woman looked at me with sympathetic eyes.
“Well, I had one of the other waitresses go to her house when she didn’t come in or answer her phone. The doctor says she’s in a coma.”
I looked down at the table in silent disbelief. The waitress gently rested her hand on my shoulder before leaving me to think about what she’d said. I got up from the table and headed for the door, my appetite completely gone. I got into my truck and sat there for a moment, thinking about Alli. I had killed off her spirit as if it were nothing. A knot started to form in the pit of my stomach as I considered what I had done. It seemed like all I had done this past year was rid towns of spirits who were hurting people, so how was Alli really any different? She was a living breathing person, my own voice screamed back in response. I started the engine to drown out the sound of my own thoughts. I rolled down the windows and pulled out into the street, letting the cool breeze clear my head. There was nothing I wanted more at that moment than to get out of Nebraska. As I turned on the radio and searched for a station that wasn’t filled with static or Jesus, my phone rang; it was Cara.